| Livestock Numbers | |||
| Cattle | Pigs | Sheep | |
| '000 | |||
| 2018 | 6,593.5 | 1,572.2 | 3,798.5 |
| 2019 | 6,559.7 | 1,613.3 | 3,908.3 |
| % change | -0.5 | +2.6 | +2.9 |
The results of the December 2019 Livestock Survey show that the provisional estimate for the total number of sheep was 3,908,300 an increase of 109,800 (+2.9%) on December 2018. The number of Other sheep increased by 76,700 (+6.9%) and breeding sheep increased by 33,100 (+1.2%). See Table 3.
Pig numbers increased by 2.6% to 1,613,300. Breeding pigs increased by 1.4% and non-breeding pigs increased by 2.7%. See Table 2.
The total number of cattle decreased by 33,800 (-0.5%) to 6,559,700. The number of dairy cows increased by 56,700 (+4.1%) while other cows decreased by 25,500 (-2.6%). The total number of cattle under 1 decreased by 37,500 (-1.9%) while cattle 2 years and over (excluding cows and bulls) increased by 23,000 (+5.2%). See Table 1.
| Table 1 Number of Cattle | |||||
| Description | December 2017 | December 2018 | December 2019 | Change 2018 - 2019 | |
| ' 000 | ' 000 | % | |||
| Total cattle | 6,673.6 | 6,593.5 | 6,559.7 | -33.8 | -0.5 |
| Dairy cows1 | 1,343.3 | 1,369.1 | 1,425.8 | 56.7 | 4.1 |
| Other cows | 1,018.3 | 982.3 | 956.9 | -25.5 | -2.6 |
| Bulls2 | 12.8 | 8.6 | 6.3 | -2.3 | -26.5 |
| Cattle male: 2 years and over3 | 172.6 | 188.7 | 206.1 | 17.4 | 9.2 |
| Cattle female: 2 years and over4 | 247.9 | 255.2 | 260.9 | 5.6 | 2.2 |
| Cattle male: 1-2 years | 823.2 | 813.6 | 779.4 | -34.2 | -4.2 |
| Cattle female: 1-2 years | 969.0 | 976.1 | 962.0 | -14.1 | -1.4 |
| Cattle male: under 1 year | 1,008.6 | 948.5 | 906.4 | -42.1 | -4.4 |
| Cattle female: under 1 year | 1,077.9 | 1,051.4 | 1,056.0 | 4.6 | 0.4 |
| Total cattle male | 2,017.2 | 1,959.4 | 1,898.2 | -61.2 | -3.1 |
| Total cattle female | 4,656.4 | 4,634.1 | 4,661.4 | 27.3 | 0.6 |
| 1 Dairy cows are those kept principally to produce milk for human consumption. | |||||
| 2 Bulls used for breeding purposes only. | |||||
| 3 Excluding Bulls. | |||||
| 4 Excluding Dairy cows and Other cows. | |||||
| Table 2 Number of Pigs | |||||
| Description | December 2017 | December 2018 | December 2019 | Change 2018 - 2019 | |
| ' 000 | ' 000 | % | |||
| Total pigs | 1,616.4 | 1,572.2 | 1,613.3 | 41.1 | 2.6 |
| Breeding pigs | 150.2 | 143.0 | 145.0 | 2.0 | 1.4 |
| Gilts in pig | 20.6 | 19.1 | 20.1 | 1.0 | 5.2 |
| Sows in pig | 84.7 | 78.0 | 79.3 | 1.2 | 1.6 |
| Other Sows for breeding | 28.9 | 29.3 | 28.1 | -1.2 | -4.0 |
| Gilts not yet served1 | 14.8 | 15.3 | 16.5 | 1.1 | 7.5 |
| Boars | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.0 | -0.2 | -17.9 |
| Other pigs | 1,466.2 | 1,429.2 | 1,468.3 | 39.1 | 2.7 |
| Pigs 80kg and over | 276.5 | 259.1 | 288.9 | 29.8 | 11.5 |
| Pigs 50kg and under 80kg | 322.6 | 315.9 | 310.0 | -5.9 | -1.9 |
| Pigs 20kg and under 50kg | 417.2 | 417.3 | 417.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| Less than 20kg | 449.9 | 436.9 | 451.6 | 14.8 | 3.4 |
| 1 Gilts of at least 50kg liveweight intended for breeding but not yet served. | |||||
| Table 3 Number of Sheep | |||||
| Description | December | December | December | Change 2018 - 2019 | |
| 20171 | 2018 | 20192 | |||
| ' 000 | ' 000 | % | |||
| Total sheep | 3,981.8 | 3,798.5 | 3,908.3 | 109.8 | 2.9 |
| Breeding sheep | 2,809.0 | 2,690.0 | 2,723.1 | 33.1 | 1.2 |
| Ewes: 2 years and over | 1,995.1 | 1,980.2 | 2,026.9 | 46.6 | 2.4 |
| Ewes: under 2 years | 728.2 | 627.9 | 612.2 | -15.7 | -2.5 |
| Rams | 85.7 | 81.9 | 84.0 | 2.1 | 2.6 |
| Other sheep | 1,172.8 | 1,108.5 | 1,185.2 | 76.7 | 6.9 |
| 1 New Series from 2017 see Background Notes. | |||||
| 2 Provisional. | |||||
This release presents estimates for livestock numbers (cattle, sheep and pigs) in December 2019 at State level. The estimates for cattle and sheep are obtained from administrative data from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM). The estimates for pigs are based on returns from the CSO December Pig Survey.
Cattle: The results for cattle are obtained from DAFM Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) system. This system was introduced at the beginning of 2000 and involves electronically recording data on animal movements.
Pigs: A specialist pig survey was conducted by the CSO due to the intensive nature of this activity.
Sheep: The estimates for sheep are obtained from DAFM National Sheep & Goat Census undertaken on 31st December 2019. The 2019 results from the census are provisional. Final figures will be published on our StatBank by the end of May, 2020. Click here for a link to StatBank Table AAA06 Farm Animals in December by Type of Animal showing livestock numbers including sheep. The estimates from December 2017 represent a break in the data series previously published.
The DAFM National Sheep and Goat Census is carried out under EU Regulation 21/2004 which obliges member states to carry out a census of sheep and goats annually. The first census took place in 2005.
Rounding: As a result of rounding, there may be slight discrepancies between the sum (or difference) of the constituent items and the total shown. Percentage changes have been calculated using actual figures.
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Show Table 1 Number of Cattle
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